Coral Gables To Phase Out Single-Use Straws

Earlier this year, Coral Gables announced the prohibition of single-use plastic straws and stirrers in city facilities, parks and events on city property.

Matt Anderson, the senior sustainability analyst for the city, said they wanted to lead by example and encourage residents and the business community.

The city passed the ordinance on Jan. 8 with the enforcement period starting on July 9. In the meantime, Anderson said the city will be doing a six-month education period.

The city’s plastic bag ban, passed in May 2017, had a year-long education phase to allow businesses to adapt.

“Say [a business] ordered a bunch of plastic bags for the year; a lot of them order a year’s worth of inventory because of better pricing,” said Anderson “We allowed them a year to be able to transfer away…so the economic impact on our businesses aren’t tremendous.”

The city saw other changes within businesses soon after.

Anderson said when they looked at the businesses’ supply chain and their ordering, they noticed how businesses started making more environmentally conscious decisions.